A Titanic Battle.
Things where not looking to good for the gang. After Noctis kept on suffering from nasty headaches, they decided they needed to check out the Disc of Cauthess. But getting there would be tricky. Until the mysterious stranger they met before, who's name was Ardyn, offered to help them. He was less trustworthy than a hungry dog around a fancy dinner table, but they had no other options. So with no other choice, they were now following Ardyn towards the disc. Still they had to keep their guard up just in case it was a trick.
"Whoever thought of tapping into the Meteor's power was a genius" Gladio said.
"Can you even go near that thing?" Prompto asked.
"They harvest fragments found nearby, pieces that broke off when the Meteor fell. Almost fell, I should say, for the Archaean caught it" Ignis explained.
"And he's still there, holding the thing up" Gladio added.
"Guess he never misses leg day" Noctis joked.
"Or any day for that matter" Prompto said.
"Me and Gladio are pretty strong, but I doubt either of us could possibly match him in strength. He is easily one of, if not the strongest Archean in the world in terms of raw strength. Doubt he has any real rivals in that area" Asuka said
"You are correct, Asuka. His unceasing toil and the Meteor's might form the tenets of worship for the locals of Duscae" Ignis said.
"Makes you wonder what it's like down there at his feet" Gladio said.
"Guess we will find out" Asuka said.
Asuka has always had a lot of respect for strong people, especially those who rely on pure physical might, rather than fancy weapons and magic. That is one of the many reasons she respected muscle man that is her older brother, Gladio. Asuka prides herself on being strong, but she admits in a contest of raw strength, she might come up short against Gladio. There is a reason why he is called the muscles of the team.
"So you know, it's hot where we're going. Will the camera fare alright?" Ignis asked.
"As long as I avoid open flames, it should be okay. I think" Prompto answered.
"We don't have a spare if it breaks" Gladio reminded.
"Leave it in the car?" Noctis suggested.
Prompto shook his head "Oh no, I'm taking it. Not every day you get up close and personal with the Archaean. I'd kick myself if I missed the photo op".
"Spoken like a true photographer" Gladio said with a smile.
"As they say, Better to try and fail than never to try at all".
Noctis glanced at him "Look at you".
"Well, they say that, not me" Prompto reminded.
"Well, you just do what you gotta" Noctis said simply.
"Well, I better make sure to check for good spots. This is a once in a life time experience, so you better make sure to get some good pictures of me in there, Prompto" Asuka said.
"You got it babe! I can never have enough badass pictures of you" Prompto said with a smile making Asuka giggle. After a bit he thought of something" Hey, Iggy. Can your glasses take the heat?".
"Well, I don't see why they shouldn't" Ignis answered.
"Even if they couldn't, he'd still be alright" Noctis said.
"Yeah, Iggy's eyes ain't that bad" Gladio agreed.
"Oh, really?" Prompto asked as he looked at Ignis.
"My vision is passable without corrective lenses" Ignis confirmed.
"Then why not take 'em off sometimes?" Prompto asked
"Well…" Ignis trailed of.
"You don't get it, huh?" Noctis asked.
"Ignis likes his world to be crystal clear" Gladio explained.
"Indeed. I've never been one for ambiguity" Ignis confirmed.
Prompto gained a look of realization "Ah. I think I'm getting the picture now".
"Either way, better that you can see everything clearly, rather than being blindsided by the one thing you didn't see" Asuka said, earning some looks from the others "What? I am a martial artist. Being aware of everything is a vital skill".
"Wise words from the martial artist" Gladio said in a joking tone, earning a playful punch from Asuka.
They continued on the long drive as Prompto spoke "Hey Ignis, how's it feel being away from the wheel?".
"Positively frightening" Ignis answered bluntly.
Noctis used the mirror to look at him "What're you sayin'?".
"That I'm no stranger to His Highness's driving habits" Ignis answered simply.
"'Preciate the confidence" Noctis said sarcastically.
"Read a book. It'll take your mind off it" Gladio said while already reading a book.
"I'd rather keep my eyes on the road for now, thank you" Ignis said.
"I guess nothing can take your mind off Noct's driving" Prompto said.
"Cheer up guys, a little danger keeps the mind sharp. Besides, if we crash, we can just make Noct push the car the rest of the way" Asuka said, earning a glare from Noctis and some laughs from the others.
After their long drive the cars finally arrive at the Cauthess barricade.
"We're here" Ardyn said.
"Better not be a setup" Noctis warned.
"Have I given you reason to doubt me?" Ardyn asked, sounding hurt but even a child could tell it was fake.
"You don't exactly inspire confidence" Prompto admitted.
"Yeah, not very straightforward" Gladio added.
Ardyn shouts over the wall "Hello! It's me! Be so kind as to open up!".
The gate opens much to Prompto's surprise "Wow, that worked?".
"I may not look like much, but I do have some influence. Aren't you glad we came together? Your audience with divinity lies ahead" Ardyn said.
You're leaving?" Prompto asked.
"I drop you at the Archaean's open door, and with that, bid you farewell" Ardyn said.
As Noctis drives the Regalia onward, Asuka shivers, despite of the heat "Finally. Good riddance".
"I've met some weirdos…" Gladio agreed.
"I hope we never meet that one again" Ignis said.
"Whoa! Little harsh there, don't you think?" Prompto asked.
"Nope, if anything we were being nice. He easily the creepiest guy I've ever met" Asuka said as they drives Further down the path.
"Guy really knew his stuff about nursery rhymes" Prompto said.
"Yeah, nothing creepy about that!" Noctis said sarcastically as he stops the car and everyone gets out of the Regalia, before they proceeds down the more narrow path on foot "So we keep going this way".
"Then we'll find out what the empire's up to" Gladio said.
"Well, here goes nothing" Asuka said.
As they move along the path Ignis looks around "These ruins…".
"Something familiar, Iggy?" Asuka asked.
"Maybe. I have a feeling there more to this place than we realize" Ignis answered before they got close to the ledge at the end of the path.
"Is that what I think it is?" Prompto said as he noticed something.
"No doubt about it" Asuka confirmed. In front of them was one of the royal tombs.
"Didn't expect to find a royal tomb here" Ignis said.
"Would be a shame not to grab that power, eh, Highness?" Gladio said as he looked at Noctis.
"Let's grab it and go" Noctis said as walks up to the sarcophagus near the ledge, holds out his hand and acquires the royal arm residing here.
Immediately after Noctis has acquired his newest royal arm, the ground begins to shake dramatically, causing the group to lose their balance; Prompto and Ignis fall down while Asuka, Gladio and Noct just barely manage to keep themselves uprigh.
"Here we go again" Prompto said as the ground kept shaking.
"This one's huge!" Gladio said while being rocked around by the quakes.
"Get away! Quickly!" Ignis shouts.
Noctis's headache suddenly returns, bringing him down to one knee; he recovers as fast as he can and tries to run away from the crumbling ledge; the sarcophagus of his ancestor falls away with the ledge; Noct is unable to get far before the ground falls out from under his feet, dropping him against a slope, which he slides down until he briefly lands on a small ledge below; he quickly slides off this ledge and turns to try grabbing on; he can't get a hand hold and slides into what will be a long plummet; suddenly, Gladio shouts out to him from a few feet away on the ledge.
"Noct!" Gladio dives out over the ledge and, with his left hand, grabs Noctis's right arm "I gotcha!" The two work together to get Noctis pulled up onto the ledge beside Gladiolus "C'mon, pull yourself up".
The two let themselves fall down away from the ledge; suddenly, the Meteor begins to rise before them, revealing Titan, who has been holding the chunk of space debris on his back for many years.
"What the-?" Noctis began before Titan says something indecipherable in the language of the gods "Goddamn… This is the Archaean?".
"Seems we woke the big guy up" Gladio said.
"He's trying too tell me something … But what?" Noctis wondered.
Prompto suddenly calls out from high above "Noct! You okay?".
"Gladio!" Asuka called down.
"It alright sis! We're fine!" Gladio called back.
"Thank heavens you're safe. Is there a way back up?" Ignis asked.
"No, but there's a path. Gonna see where it leads" Noctis answered.
"You three try to get down" Gladio said.
"Very well. We'll look for a way. Be careful, now" Ignis said.
"You, too" Noctis said.
"What? We're going where!?" Prompto asked in fear.
"Come on Prompto, we need to find a way down to help them. Besides, this is a good chance for you to prove your bravery to me by standing up to a Titan. Remember, if you need motivation, just look at me" Asuka said with a wink.
"Consider me motivated! Let's go!" Prompto declared as he began marching on.
"I swear, you are the only one who can motivate him like that" Ignis said.
Asuka giggled "Perks of being his girlfriend. Come on, let's go".
Ignis nods and they began searching for a way to regroup with Noctis and Gladio.
As they are moving the tremors keep getting worse, and Titan is becoming more active. He trully was massive. By far the largest being they've encountered yet. Even the Behemoth was tiny in comparison. As they continued searching for a way down, they noticed something that would make the situation even worse. They look up to see imperial drop ships flying into the Disc of Cauthess area.
"You got to be kidding me!" Asuka said in annoyance. Couldn't they go anywhere without those bastards getting in the way?
Ignis pulled out his phone and tried to call Noctis, after a little bit, he got an answer "You're safe. Good. Listen, imperial troops are near... Noct? Noct!? Blast it. There are to much interference, I got cut of".
Soon several magitek troopers showed up, making Asuka glare as she brought out her armored combat gloves "Alright, I needed to punch something anyway".
"No way around it, take them down quickly" Ignis said.
"Got it" Prompto said.
The magitek troopers moved to attack, but Asuka quickly rushed in and delivered several strong punches to one of them before finishing it of with a kick that took it's head of. Ignis moved around another trooper, avoiding it's attack before using his daggers to stab it in a weak spot, quickly shutting it down. As another trooper moved towards Prompto, it raised it's large blade to kill him, but this left it wide open for Prompto to shoot it right in the head, causing the head to fly of the body from the impact of the bullet. Two more troopers remained, but Prompto shot at them, allowing Asuka and Ignis to get in close and took them down with a powerful punch from Asuka and a quick slice from Ignis.
"That was to easy" Prompto said while spinning his gun.
Suddenly a Jack robot landed in front of them, causing Asuka to give him a small glare "You had to jinx it".
"Sorry" Prompto said sheepishly.
"We don't have time for this. Take it down quickly" Ignis instructed.
The Jack Robot began charging at them like a bull. They avoided it's attack, and Asuka began punching it several times, but it managed to block her last punch and was about to counter. But as it pulled it's other arm back for a punch, Ignis threw one of his daggers in to it's arm causing it to start glitching up. Asuka took this chance to kick it back as Ignis leaps on top of it and uses his other dagger to stab it in the shoulder before jumping of, retrieving his thrown dagger as he did. Prompto took aim with his gun and began shooting the Jack several times making it back away more and more. Asuka then sprinted towards it and delivered a jumping kick that sent it further back towards the edge. It was damaged but still functioning, and was ready to continue the battle... only for more rumbles to occur, causing the edge to collapse, and the Jack robot fell down, before being buried by the rubble.
With that threat dealt with, they hurried to continue on. And after a while they noticed that Noctis was fighting Titan. Noctis warps down to Titan's feet, where he begins parrying one swing after another; after attempting a warp-strike into Titan's incoming fist, he's knocked to the ground; Noct pulls himself to his feet, though. After parrying yet another swing, Titan's left arm is momentarily paralyzed; Noct begins attacking the arm while it's vulnerable; after the battle continues for another moment, Asuka, Ignis and Prompto arrive.
"Hey Noct!" Asuka called out.
"Did you miss us?" Prompto asked
"Apologies" Ignis said.
"My gosh I've always enjoyed punching above my weight. But how do we even fight that guy?" Asuka asked.
"Focus on his arm!" Noctis told them.
Suddenly, Prompto notices the other participants of the battle "Think those imperial soldiers just wanna say hi?".
Several imperial drop ships swoop in while magitek troopers fire harpoons into Titan; he takes another swing at Noctis and the others, then Gladio arrives.
"Are we alright?" Gladio asked.
"Gettin' by" Noctis answered.
"Still, nice to have you back bro" Asuka said, but didn't take her eyes of Titan.
Titan brings it's hand down, but the group avoids it. Asuka leaps on to the arm and began to pound it with all her might as the guys were attacking it from all sides. After causing a little more damage to Titan's arm, he falls forward and his arm comes crashing down to support him. He was vulnarable now, and wide open for an focused assault
"We're all here. Let's do it" Noct said and everyone began to focus their attacks on Titan's arm. Asuka focused her strength in to each punch, Noctis used his warp ability to strike several spots in quick succession, Ignis located the weak spots and struke them all with masterful accuracy, while Prompto brought out his heavier weapons and unloaded on Titan's arm. Their focused assault managed to cause a lot more damage to Titan's arm.
Ignis then hurls a Blizzard spell at the god's appendage "The game's up!".
First, Gladio then Prompto and then Asuka hurl yet more Blizzard spells at Titan's arm.
"You're out!" Prompto said as Titan's left arm freezes from the elbow down.
"It's over!" Noctis swings his sword down into the arm, shattering it all the way up to the elbow, causing Titan to collapse. Noctis took a moment to catch his breath "Hey, we all still here?".
"Yep, still here" Gladio said.
"If a little battered" Ignis added.
"That was one hell of a fight. Good thing Titan still had the meteor on his back, otherwise we might've never have defeated him" Asuka admitted. Titan was way more powerful than them. That much was obvious, and he was fighting at a massive disadvantage. They got lucky.
"Does this mean it's over?" Prompto asked before the tremors suddenly resume in intensity.
"What, what is it now?" Noctis asked.
"What is he doing?" Ignis wondered.
"He's winding up!" Prompto shouts.
"For the big one!" Gladio added.
"Crap crap crap!" Asuka shouts.
Titan roars as gold lights begin to emanate from his body, some of which coalesce around Noct, showing him Titan's memory of Luna standing before the god.
"That was… Luna. You spoke with her. That's why…" Noctis realized.
Titan and the Meteor suddenly discorporate in a powerful flash that sends all the imperial ships in the vicinity crashing to the ground; lava spews from the earth as the Disc of Cauthess crumbles around Noctis and his retinue.
"Doesn't get much worse than this" Gladio said as five find themselves trapped; suddenly, an imperial drop ship descends to their location.
"The empire! Now?" Ignis said.
The drop ship's door lowers, revealing Ardyn "Fancy meeting you here!"
Noctis and the others stare at him in stunned silence, except for Asuka who spoke "This guy again!?".
"It occurs to me I never formally introduced myself. Izunia. Ardyn Izunia" Ardyn said.
"Imperial Chancellor Izunia?" Ignis asked in shock.
"At your service. And more importantly, to your aid" Ardyn said, None of the five move, instead offering only uncertain stares "I guarantee your safe passage. Though you're always welcome to take your chances down there" Noct and the others continue staring back, clearly frustrated "Buried among the rubble, is it?".
"Dying here is not an option. We have no choice, Noct" Ignis said, though his tone made it clear he didn't like it.
"I know" Noctis said in defeat.
With no other choice they rushed in to the drop ship and moments later it began to fly away.
Soon they are all in the hold of Ardyn's drop ship; Ignis is standing, facing Ardyn while the others sit hunched on the floor.
"And what will you do with us now?" Ignis asked.
"Why, grant you safe passage, just as I said" Ardyni answered.
"Pretty generous offer for an imperial" Prompto said.
"Come now. Is it fair to begrudge a man the circumstances of his birth?" Ardyn asked.
"Well, no, I guess not…" Prompto admitted.
But Asuka was not having it, this guy had been speaking in riddles ever since they met him, and she was done with it. She stood up and marched right up to Ardyn before glaring in to his face. She was tired and frustrated, and she was done with just standing to the side and remain silent.
"Cut the shit! Why the hell are you helping us? The Empire invaded our home, killed our king, along with my father! The Empire destroyed everything we had! So why the hell would the Imperial Chancellor go out of his way to help the biggest enemies to the Empire?" Asuka demanded.
Ardyn looked at her calmly, not the least bit effected by her anger "My my, so emotional. I always believed the Kazama blood line were people who valued self control and inner peace. But I suppose you can't be blamed, given you weren't raised by a true Kazama".
"What do you mean?" Asuka demanded as she took a step back.
"I was uncertain before, but now I can see it clearly. You look just like your mother" Ardyn said.
"My... mother?... You knew my mother?" Asuka asked, her anger fading.
"Not personally. I only knew the stories. How she was brave and strong... such a pity that she lost her life fighting against a great evil. Leaving behind her only daughter. Such where the stories, and you have prove them to be true" Ardyn answered.
Asuka was breathing hard, her mind flooding with a million questions. But there was one thing Ardyn said that stuck out... her mother... was dead. Asuka always had a feeling she was, but having it confirmed like this and knowing her mother was killed by a monster... it was to much. She grabbed her head as she backed away... and soon a sob escaped as tears began running down her face. Gladio was quick to walk up next to her and pulled her in to a gentle hug, allowing Asuka to cry in to her brother's chest.
As Asuka cried, the others gave Ardyn small glares, who maintained an innocent look. Things were only going to get harder from here on out.
.
Tell me what you think.
